Maria Shinn

After graduating from a small high school in West Virginia, Maria thought her career path was in sports administration. She worked as the Sports Information Director at her alma mater, Muskingum College, and then went on to serve as the Information Director of the Ohio Athletic Conference.

Maria loved her work, but she felt that something was missing in her professional life. She wanted a career in which she could truly help people. She decided to explore the legal field and enrolled at Cleveland-Marshall Law School. It was there she found her calling. She loved the hands-on, real world experience of the school's employment law clinic and enjoyed working as a law clerk for a general practice law firm in Cleveland.

Maria graduated magna cum laude from Cleveland-Marshall in 1997. She stayed on at the Cleveland firm as an associate attorney, preparing wills and handling probate matters and workers’ compensation claims. Again, she enjoyed her work, but she longed for something different. She wanted to focus her law practice to estate planning, probate administration, and elder law. She also wanted to help non-traditional families and people in the LGBTQ community. She embarked on a new adventure by starting her own law firm in 2000.

Maria strongly believes that every couple and family, both traditional and non-traditional, deserve the same quality legal services and the same legal protections for themselves and their loved ones. She and her spouse have three children, so she knows first-hand what it means to be a parent, to be in a committed relationship, and to be part of a family. This experience gives Maria exceptional insight into the broad range of issues her clients, both traditional and non-traditional, face. This insight is another reason why you will receive superb legal services from Maria.

Maria also believes in giving back to the community. Since 1998, she has been a volunteer attorney with the Visiting Nurse Association of Cleveland Hospice. In this capacity, she provides free legal services to hospice patients. Her services often involve preparing wills, powers of attorney and health care directives and providing guidance to patients’ families in administering patients’ estates. Serving terminally ill individuals, besides being personally rewarding, helps Maria better understand the legal and personal needs of all her clients.

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Meet Maria L. Shinn

Attorney Maria Shinn’s commitment to legal excellence was evident even at Cleveland-Marshall Law School, from which she graduated in 1997 magna cum laude. After earning her J.D., Maria practiced at a Cleveland, Ohio, law firm where she prepared wills and handled probate matters and workers’ compensation claims. She started Shinn Law Firm, LLC in 2000.
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